37th Pelluer Invitational April 10-11 at Woodward

Eastern Washington University hosts the 37th Annual Pelluer Invitational Track and Field Meet April 10-11 at Woodward Field in Cheney, Wash. More than 300 student-athletes from regional colleges will take part in the meet this week.

Other schools represented will include Lewis-Clark State, Seattle University, Community Colleges of Spokane and Whitworth.

Last year, 356 athletes took part after meets the previous five years featured between 325 and 435 competitors. A record 476 took part in 2001 and 435 participated in 2005.

For the third straight year, the Pelluer Invitational will also include decathlon and heptathlon competitions that have previously taken place in mid-March. The men's decathlon begins Thursday (April 10) at 1 p.m., with the women's heptathlon starting at 1:30.

On Friday (April 11), the final day of the decathlon begins at 8:30 a.m. and the final three events of the heptathlon begin at 10 a.m. Field events in the regular portion of the Pelluer Invitational begin at noon and running events start at 4 p.m.

The meet is dedicated to Arnie Pelluer, a former track and cross country coach at Eastern in 1970-71, and also a coach at Whitworth College and Yakima Valley Community College. After starting the twilight meet in 1971, later that year he died in a swimming accident. The event was renamed in his honor the following year.

NOTE: Pelluer Invitational Results will be updated periodically each day with links provided on the men's and women's track and field pages at: http://WWW.GOEAGS.COM

Top performers Chad Butorac (Jr., Northport, Wash. - Northport HS '05)Butorac finished second in the 200 (22.17) and won the 400 (49.10) at the Al Manuel Invitational (April 5). Butorac won the 400 meters with a time of 49.13 and finished second in the 200 with a time of 22.16 at the Dusty Lane Invitational (March 14-15). A junior from Northport, Wash., Butorac began his pursuit of the school record of 47.05 set by Hogan Wrixon in 1988. Butorac's current career best is 47.19 to rank second in school history.

Krystal Deyo (So., Castle Rock, Wash. - Castle Rock HS '06)Deyo competed in four events at the Al Manuel Invitational (April 4-5). She won the 100 (12.55), placed fourth in the 200 (25.99), was third in the long jump (16-6) and helped her 4x100 team to a first-place finish.

Aaron Mettler (Fr., Walla Walla, Wash. - Walla Walla HS `07)Mettler qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships and met the NCAA West Regional qualifying standard in the javelin with a toss of 203-11 at the Al Manuel Invitational (April 4-5). He ranks 11th in school history.

Amanda Peterson (Fr., Gig Harbor, Wash. - Peninsula HS '07)Peterson improved her NCAA West Regional qualifying mark in the javelin with a throw of 154-5 at the Al Manuel Invitational (April 5). She won that event and now ranks sixth in school history. She had already qualified for the BSC Championships and the NCAA West Regional in the javelin with a throw of 152-6 at the Dusty Lane Invitational (March 14-15).

Other Notes:In the Big Sky Conference preseason coaches poll announced on March 19, Eastern's men were selected to finish seventh while the women were picked eighth. Weber State was picked first for both the men and women. Last year at the conference championships, the EWU men finished sixth with 72.8 points and the women were seventh with 71 points. This year's BSC Championships take place in Sacramento, Calif., May 14-17.

Other Top Performers: Brody Faire (Jr., Ellensburg, Wash. - Ellensburg HS '05)Faire qualified for the Big Sky Conference Championships in the shot put with a throw of 50-9 1/2 to finish second at the Dusty Lane Invitational (March 14-15). He also finished eighth in both the discus (135-7) and hammer (143-11).

Alex McNairy (Jr., Spokane, Wash. - Ferris HS '05 &amp; Cal. Lutheran Univ.)McNairy finished first in the 400 meters with a time of 58.32 and second in the 200 with a run of 26.36 at the Dusty Lane Invitational (March 14-15).